Too Brief

The Illinois Administrator has filed a complaint alleging that an attorney had mishandled an appeal and misrepresented the reasons for its dismissal to the client. 

The attorney handled a divorce matter that had been dismissed in Illinois in light of a pending Wisconsin proceeding. 

On appeal

The brief Respondent filed…did not conform to the requirements of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 341 in that the brief was not double-spaced, did not state any nature of the action, did not contain any points or authorities, did not contain any statement of the issue or issues presented for review, did not contain any statement of jurisdiction, and contained no statement facts with record citations. In addition, Respondent’s Certificate of Compliance incorrectly stated that the brief was 31 pages long, when it was in fact only nine pages.

The appeal was dismissed due to the non-compliant brief.

Allegedly, the attorney told the client it had been lost on the merits.

Shortly after December 24, 2015, Respondent informed Colon that her appeal had been dismissed based on the merits of her case, and that her case would need to proceed in Wisconsin. Respondent further explained to Colon that the Appellate Court made the correct decision in finding that the trial court had ruled on her matter correctly.

At the time Respondent informed Colon of the reason for the Appellate Court’s dismissal of her appeal, his statement to her was false because the Appellate Court had entered its order stating that Colon’s appeal had been dismissed with prejudice based on Respondent’s failure to comply with the November 18, 2015 order and filing a brief that violated several sections of Illinois Supreme Court Rule 341.

(Mike Frisch)